Phoenix Capture
by Hysterical Kit
Summary: An unfortunate blunder during war leads to a certain phoenix caged in the undesirable lands known as Mariejois. All is hell until one girl appears. Fem!Luffy.
1. Phoenix 1

_"Marco!"_

_He heard hundreds of yells and shouts as he fell—his last vision was the sniper carrying that rifle that shot the seastone bullet and the traitor next to him howling with crazed laughter. Then, the wild waves crashed on top of him, sending him away from his home—far far away…_

_"MARCO!"_

_But he was too tired._

Eyes awoke to see the grubby hands of those fatass nobles in their astromical space suits. Those greedy eyes filled with sin behind the steel birdcage… and he mentally groaned, feeling tired, weak, and helpless. A feeling that he never felt before.

…

A soft hum drifted through the large halls of the mega-mansion as a teenage girl looked around the area. Her instinct had somehow brought her here and not like she cared. As long as the nobles didn't see her, then she didn't see the harm.

She felt like something interesting was going to happen… and how right she was, when she peeked into an open door and saw a light blue bird with beautiful long feathers…

Though he drooped from sadness and homesickness and countless of other emotions.

She grinned, swiftly placing her white coat on top of the cage and carrying the cage out, ignoring the slight chirp of shock from the sudden movement.

A soft hum once again drifted through the large halls.


	2. Phoenix 2

_He flew across the seven seas alone—no one to love and no one who loved. Just alone._

_Forever alone… if you count his devil fruit._

_Until one day, he met him._

_"You want a family too?"_

_He was alone too. A giant pirate in his prime—like him, a monster, a lonely monster._

_"Marco… be my son. My dream… no, our dream—"_

_His dream was to find a family too._

_And they did._

_Together._

Eyes awoke to see—instead of this abominable sinful eyes—innocently big ones. They seemingly saw through his soul… and radiated with such warmth and brightness.

Then, a large grin cracked her small face as she smiled,

"My… aren't you a sad one~"

The girl smiled; her instinct telling her that the bird was intelligent. Thus, feeling a need to explain…

"This a secret, kay, birdie-san—I took you out of the Tenryuubito's place and we're in my home in Marineford now."

His eyes widened at the implications of what she just said. She STOLE from the TENRYUUBITO?! Even pirates and thieves and the Gorosei didn't have the guts to do that! No one did anything to the Tenryuubito—with the sole exception of Fisher Tiger.

She twirled a straw band in her hand and placed it around his leg—where the Tenryuubito branded him with their mark, making sure that it stayed despite his regeneration ability. The straw band perfectly covered the mark and somewhat suited him.

"A little gift to cover that mark—no one should have their freedom taken away… birds especially!"

He smiled, touched by the present as well as her words. After 100 days in that suffocating hell, he truly valued freedom.

Eyes blinked as he realized that he wasn't in a cage anymore. No… instead he was in what seemed to be her room. Not pink or girly or anything like he would expect from a girl. Nah… instead it was big and simple with lots of portraits of the ocean and sky on the walls.

And he noted a white coat on the bed he was sitting on. She noticed and placed it on her with a flourish,

"Tadda~ I'm a marine! That's why the fact that I got you out of Mariejois is a secret—kay?"

…he blinked slowly as he read the Absolute Justice kanji on her back. Wasn't people who wore those coats and their own stylized suits only Lieutenant-Commanders or higher?

…then… does that mean that the girl was a Lieutenant-Commander or higher?

Shit.

Though it did explain how she got into Mariejois in the first place. That place was the most secure spot in the world—especially after what Fisher Tiger did.

She posed a V with her fingers before sitting on the bed next to him, "Wait a little more, birdie-san. Once your injuries get better, I'll let you free."

He nodded; eyes drooping. He did feel tired. Though this time… the sadness was gone, replaced with hope. Before he fell to the lull of peace and quiet and warmth, he idly wondered how his Pops was doing.


	3. Phoenix 3

Garp and his granddaughter both sat in the room, happily eating rice crackers while the Fleet Admiral raged and ranted. The sheep baa-ed and joined in the meal. Sengoku always did have a lot of rice crackers in his room.

"OI! YOU TWO!"

"What?/Baa~?" They all gave him innocent looks, though it looked funny on an old man like Garp. He growled,

"STOP EATING MY RICE CRACKERS!"

They grinned, "Yadda~"

Kuzan sweat-dropped, "Shouldn't you be telling them to listen?"

Making Sengoku cough, "Right. LISTEN YOU TWO!"

"Hai~" "Baaa—"

"Whitebeard's First Commander is gone and he's tearing apart the seas to look for the damn man!"

"So?" came four voices. Making Sakazuki growl,

"What do you mean 'so'? This is a major violation and we marines should punish the scum for disturbing the order."

The girl smiled, pointing out, "Not like Whitebeard's hurting anyone though."

Tsuru nodded, politely taking a rice cracker offered by the girl (making Sengoku twitch that his stash of rice crackers were disappearing), "She's right. The man's only looking for his commander. As long as he continues to not harm the islands and their people, then I see no harm as well."

And she was the main strategizer.

"Bwahahaha~ That old coon'll never harm innocents~"

Sengoku grunted as more agreements came up from his colleagues, muttering, "All of this is that damn Blackbeard's and Shiki's fault."

True. There was a somewhat major pirate war between the two forces. Whitebeard vs Shiki. Blackbeard turned traitor and helped Shiki, seriously injuring three of the commanders along the way—one falling to the ocean and disappearing. And then, the traitor disappeared himself though word has it that he was in Paradise falling many kingdoms.

Borsalino sighed, "Thoooouuuuugh IIIIIIII reeeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyy thiiiiiink thaaaat Maaaaarccoooo's deeeeeaaaaad aaalllllrrreeeeaaaaddddyyy."

Kuzan scoffed, "Well, Whitebeard obviously doesn't think so. You, Sakazuki?"

"Pirates are like cockroaches—you have to behead them with your own hands to make sure that they're dead."

"Which means Marco's not dead~ Though how does a Devil Fruit User survived falling into the ocean?"

Tsuru shrugged, "Even if you study the ocean for many years, it will still have its many mysteries."

Sengoku growled, "So why are you all sitting in my office?! Go out there and find Marco or do something about Whitebeard!"

"Hai." Though halfheartedly leaving.

"AND STOP EATING MY RICE-CRACKERS!"

The girl and old man stuck their tongues out before laughing while leaving.

"Luffy! Glad you became a marine unlike your damn brother."

The girl smiled softly, "Mm." In truth, she would have became a pirate as well… but she, too, knew loneliness and how lonely Jii-chan was feeling—how lonely he would feel if she left him like her dad and brother.

…

Luffy skipped back to her room, where she saw the blue bird watching her enter. She cleaned his bandages with a hum; him allowing her to. She grinned,

"Just came back from a meeting, birdie-san~ Sengoku's reeeeaaaaallly mad at the Whitebeard Pirates for tearing up the ocean these past months~"

His head perked up and she noticed his curiosity with a grin, "Ah, you like pirates or something? Well, naturally huh? Pirates and birds are both the embodiement of freedom, after all~"

He found his head tilted at that. The girl liked talking about freedom. So he learned this past week as the girl talked to him about random stuff, never letting him get bored.

"So the Whitebeard Pirates lost their commander or something and are trying to find him—good thing that they didn't harm any innocents yet~ Then, Sengoku and Sakazuki would be suuuuuper mad and destroy the pirates like that."

She clenched her fist in front of him and let the ball of bandages fall to the floor as an example. He mentally sighed in relief. So no marine trouble? It was bad enough to have a fleet of Shiki's pirates after them. Luffy patted him on the head,

"Hey, little fella—seems like you only got one more day~ Funny, huh~ I got one more day before I'm assigned to G7—the New World's getting a bit rowdy, ya know—" her voice quieted into a whisper as she looked out the window, "Not to mention, I got a real bad feeling about Blackbeard. I wonder if birds can feel it as well… the world stilling and waiting for his move—the world's about to change, whether for good or for bad, I don't know, but that Blackbeard's definitely going to change it."

Marco respectfully silenced for the girl as she contemplated his traitor's actions. The girl was quite like his Pops in that aspect; though he wondered what the two of them felt.

…

The next night, Luffy giggled as she got the bandages off the energetic bird. He was all ready to leave and rejoin his family.

"Nishishsishi~ Stay still for a while, birdie-san~"

He did, unable to wait for his trip home, and the bandages were finally off… with excited flickers of a blue flame, making them both freeze. Both understanding what that meant… both remembering their sides.

They stilled in silence, waiting for the other to move. Attack or not, just a movement.

Luffy finally made a move to sigh and pat him on the head,

"Ah, whatever. Hope you get back to your home safely, Phoenix-san. Whitebeard's at Noir Island, three thousand and seventy two kilometers north north east from here. Next time we meet, we're enemies though."

She smiled warmly, bringing him out of his frozen state and he nodded, bowing his head slightly with gratitude. He hadn't expected the marine girl to still let him go after he slightly lost control from excitement.

Though marine, he'll one day repay this debt.

With that, he took off, out of the room, through the window she opened, and into the night sky. The wind seemed to welcome him, exhilarating him to the bone as he set off to the island she mentioned.

After a long hour of flying at full speed, he saw them. Blue flames coursed his body as he spanned his wings before diving down into a certain pyromaniac and pompadour's hands.

"Marco!"

He grinned, taking in all of their appearances… especially Pops.

"Welcome home, Marco."

He nodded; eyes fully saying 'I'm home'.


	4. Phoenix 4

After a heavy shower from not taking one for a hundred and seven days, he changed into new clothes and eyed the straw band that covered the mark.

It still wouldn't heal.

And probably never will.

He sighed before putting on a purple shirt and walking to Pops's room.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Thought you couldn't." The man shifted, "So what happened?"

And the story went out of his mouth. About the first hopeless hundred days… and then, the fun seven before he left.

"Sou ka… all that happened?" There was a mix of anger for Blackbeard, Shiki, the Tenryuubito… and gratitude for the marine girl who helped his son.

Marco nodded before yawning; he was tired from flying so quickly.

"Good night, Pops… I'm home."

…

Another three months had passed and what had happened during the three months before came to be a thing of the past. Marco still remembered the girl that he met in the marines though.

Sometimes he wondered if they were ever going to meet again.

That girl who loved freedom.

But then again, if what she said was true, then she was at G7… and no pirate ever goes close to a marine base. None. It was not only stupid, but a death wish as the bases, though only 9 ever existed at one time, were truly natural defensive bases. Hard to get in if you weren't a marine—nearly impossible to get out if you weren't a marine.

He wondered what she did though… and what she was doing there. Marine truly didn't suit her—pirate did.

Hmm… but he was taken out of his thoughts as an explosion told him that Ace was causing mischief again or Thatch was trying out a new method of cooking that was far from orthodox.

He sighed; some things never change. He wondered how the Moby Dick managed to stay in one piece while he was gone… well, time to stop either one of those two.

…

"What?!"

The marine in standard uniform jumped as he bowed, repeating, "Two G7 ships were destroyed at Baltimore Island, Rear Admiral."

"…by who?" But she had a faint feeling… no one messed with marine ships except for pirates. No pirates except for the occasional newbies messed with Baltimore Island except for…

"W-whitey Bay, Rear Admiral."

"…"

She growled, pulling her straw hat down so it shadowed her eyes. The marines in the room, her subordinates, all gulped—despite her being a normally cheery, little girl, she was a Rear Admiral. And no one could accuse her of nepotism after she whipped G7 into shape in her three months of stay. Then again, no one knew who her parents were to even accuse her of nepotism.

Feeling the emotions in the room with Haki, she calmed down to the general relief and pondered on the next course of action… They couldn't fight with Whitey Bay… that would be an action of war with Whitebeard and G7 was not strong enough to hold against a Yonko yet. But she couldn't leave the marines abandoned there…

Sighing, she stood up, barking orders to get a ship ready and gather the marines of G7 together. The marine reporting asked,

"What're we going to do, Rear Admiral?"

"…for now… help the marines. I'll decide on the next course of action after hearing the full report and seeing the state of the situation. Hurry up—those two groups of marines won't survive against Whitey Bay!"

"Hai!"

…

Marco deadpanned as he read the newspaper before handing it to the other commanders, "Looks like Whitey Bay destroyed marine ships again."

"Yup."

"Wonder if was because they insulted her hair?"

"Nah, probably fashion."

"No, no, no… probably the ship. I mean, an icebreaker? On the Grand Line?"

"Actually pretty reasonable since the Grand Line does have winter islands. But wonder if they insulted her crew."

"Ah… maybe. So what do we do, Pops?"

Whitebeard frowned, having a weird feeling that he couldn't place… "Something interesting will happen… that's for sure."

"Pops?"

The man didn't seem to notice that he murmured that thought out loud. And when he did, he laughed, "We're checking the island to see if they're all right. Whitey Bay does excessively destroy things."

"Roger!"


	5. Phoenix 5

Luffy frowned as she inspected the damage. A lot worse than she thought. The hulls of the ship were completely demolished, leaving two crews' worth of men shipwrecked. The men, themselves, injured—even the doctors. If she came too late, then they would be dead.

Eyes darkened… She liked pirates. Liked them… a lot.

Yet at the same time… she hated them. Some destroyed everything without a care, pillaging villages and stealing everything. She remembered her talk with that man in the past…

Before sighing.

"Rear Admiral… course of action?"

"…" She studied the fallen's dreams… before sighing again, "Course of action… revenge… in the name of justice."

"Hai!"

She could tell that that was the answer the men behind her wanted to hear. She could see their dark smiles as they happily move to avenge their comrades. But…

"Revenge in the name of justice… in the end, is only revenge."

No one heard her except sky and sea as she watched pirates appear in the distance, readying to attack as well.

To be accurate, the marines shot first. Then, the Whitey Bay pirates demolished them. But… she'd be a bad leader if she didn't avenge her fallen comrades and take responsibilities for their actions. Even if she knew the cause…

That was in itself just revenge as well. A never-ending chain of madness.

"Rear Admiral?"

"Right…" She straightened her straw hat… before taking out her gloves (insisted by the many marines who dislike the idea of her bare-fist fighting) and pointing to Whitey Bay, "…attack."

The marines behind her roared as they waved swords and collided with the other sword-waving pirates. Gunfire stung the air and she gazed at Whitey Bay, standing just a few feet before her,

"…I'm the leader of G7's marines, Luffy."

"Cheh, a little girl like you's the leader of G7?"

Luffy could feel a bitter smile appear on her face as she murmured almost inaudibly, "Unfortunately."

…

Whitebeard widened his eyes a bit as he saw the destruction of the scene. Bloodied marines and pirates unconscious and if it weren't for their shallow breaths, then he'd think them dead. Barely any—no… none were conscious except for two marines. One, a little girl with a straw hat, and the other was a shaking marine, probably unnerved by the scene that resembled a massacre.

The girl marine eyed the bodies before snapping orders to the shaking one to patch them with First Aid and place them on the ship… then turning to him.

…

Luffy sighed as she finally defeated Whitey Bay and got her subordinate to apply First Aid to the fallen. But she was not naïve that this was over… far from that.

Whitebeard was watching… and Whitebeard was angry. Along with the other men on the Moby Dick. She was not dumb enough to think that she could win against 1600. Whitey Bay was enough to make her bleed.

Her comrade came back from placing a few men on the ship and jumped at the sight, "HIEE!"

Luffy gazed at him… a naïve marine that believed in Absolute Justice… she grabbed a bandage and tied her bleeding arm and side before handing it back to him, motioning him to kneel down… which he did unconsciously before she flicked him on the forehead, effectively bringing him out of shock,

"Here's what you do. Take the men on ship first. I don't care if they need medical aid right now, just get them to safety first. After that, wake up the ones that we healed yesterday to man the ship. I'll buy you some time to get away… but leave without me."

"Wh—"

"Just do it. Get it in your mind already—what we did was hurt his allies—his family. No one forgives after that course of action… and there is no way all of us can survive facing the Whitebeard Pirates. So just run."

"Wh-what about you?"

"Decoy and sacrifice. Don't tell Jii-chan until very necessary, though. He'll overreact." And then Ace would die and there will be a stupid war… speaking of which, where the hell is that pyromaniac?

"But—"

She kicked him, "Just get moving. My orders."

"Hai!"

But he still worriedly gave her a look before scurrying off. Luffy sighed, tilting her straw hat down; a hat that Marco had yet to see. Probably why he still wasn't sure it was her. And wouldn't say even if it was her—people are too proud to admit that they were the Tenryuubito's victim… or saved by a little girl.

The Moby Dick sailed closer and she saw many pirates already so angry that they were going to jump off and cut her… but she knew better to let them do that.

Raising her head, she used Haoshoku Haki, forcing the weak ones to collapse with foam out of their mouths.

Whitebeard and the commanders narrowed their eyes. Determining that the girl was a lot more dangerous than she seemed. Not to mention, she wore the coat of Absolute Justice and her own specialized suit… crimson red with black stripes.

"Were you the one who did this?"

She gazed up at the speaker… Iron Chef Thatch. "…I am the leader of the ones who did this."

Eyes narrowed… except for three. Perhaps the most perceptive of the bunch. Whitebeard, Marco, and Jozu. Marco's widened eyes probably meant that he recognized her… though no one noticed as she was the main focus. Her Haki told her that her marines were already about to sail away. Whitebeard and the commanders (except Ace… but knowing him, she deemed that he was most-likely sleeping from his narcolepsy) jumped down and approached her cautiously… 12 of them angrily.

Thatch eyed Whitey Bay and her bloodied crew before finally shouting and disregarding the fact that she was a teenaged girl, "Why did you do this?!"

"…saa…" Really, she wondered herself. Was it for herself, G7, the fallen, justice, or the marines in general?

"Tell me!"

"Does it really make a difference?"

The blond growled before quickly unsheathing his swords as he noticed the marine ship leaving. He let out a slash of Haki to cut it in half… but it was deflected by the girl with her gloved fist,

"Sorry… but I can't let you do that. As leader of G7, it's my responsibility to get the ones still alive back to their home safely."

Thatch clicked his tongue as the ship went out of distance from the swordsmen… they were good swordsmen, but no one could be Mihawk and cut that far away with a shockwave. He gazed at Pops, who understood and was about to create an earthquake… if it wasn't for the girl using concentrated Haoshoku Haki and tapping Whitebeard with a bracelet-sized ring… Whitebeard and the commanders widened their eyes as the earthquakes had yet to appear; Luffy dodging the attacks from Namir's Fishman Karate and Haruta's swords, simply looking back for a split second to see that their ship was out of sight.

Good thing, she got all that useless junk out of the marine ship to make it fast. Turning back to the pirates, she tilted her straw hat forward,

"I wouldn't try using your devil fruit anymore. A big enough earthquake can sweep away this island too."

Whitebeard blinked before laughing, "Seastone, is it?"

She nodded, twirling the ring with her finger, that was covered by her leather gloves.

"Smart girl… though…" Eyes narrowed as well as Whitebeard glared at her with his own Haoshoku Haki, "Why did you attack Whitey Bay?"

"…" She glared up as well, "Leaders are responsible for their subordinates' actions and welfare… for that, I won't apologize for attacking Whitey Bay… or for my subordinates for what they did to her crew. However… because of that… I won't run away. If you want to attack me in retribution, then be my guest. Those who preach justice should not ignore others' justices."

There was a slight silence as some gazed at her in a different light along with the beginning three. But she immediately side-stepped from two swords, weaving out of their many paths in the barrage of attacks as Thatch angrily raged from the sight of his fallen friends.

Despite already losing her share of blood in the former battle, she reckoned she could continue fighting another commander or two. With that, she ducked and swept her legs at his knees, forcing the blond to jump up before using her arms to lift herself and kick the legs upwards, managing to connect them to his chin. Like a spring, she bent her arms down in a split second and pushed upwards, easily disconnecting the man's jaw.

Thatch stumbled backwards from the quick, sudden attack, growling as—Vista sighed as he held Thatch back,

"Now, you're being like Ace, Thatch. You won't hit anyone with blind rage."

Luffy tilted her hat down, unable to help the small smile that came from the reference. True. Her brother was horrible at fighting while angry. Good thing the straw hat was big enough to cover her face.

Then, her obsidian eyes widened as she heard some people say something too late and coughed blood. In her remembrance, she forgot that she was at battle for a second… She slowly turned to see… not a commander, but someone not even from the Whitebeard Pirates… an ally… Squardo, was it?

But her mind couldn't think anymore… she felt herself sliding off the blade, falling to the ground unconscious… hearing three people call her name,

"Luffy!"


	6. Phoenix 6

Whitey Bay groaned as she blearily opened her eyes to see dirt… but now that she was on the ground, she realized… just how horrible she screwed up.

In another bout of hot-blooded anger, she had incited a marine to fight… causing the first shot indirectly with her words. And it was her comrade that made the first kill of the battle. And with the second wave, she just charged the new marines who knew nothing about the battle due to the men being unconscious.

No… there was one girl who seemed to know what happened… that was why she was still alive, only knocked unconscious, despite her trying to kill that little girl after hearing that she was the leader of the marines…

_She coughed as she felt her gut being punched; the air escaping from her lungs. The girl tilted her hat, but Whitey Bay could still see the sad smile on the girl's face as she murmured quietly,_

_"Sorry for what happened to your comrades… though my men made the first blow… I have to knock you out for the sake of their morale and welfare… I know… this is not justice… but twisted revenge."_

It was really her fault that the marine shot the first shot… her men that killed first… yet she could only think of killing all the people from G7, especially that girl who spared her life…

_"Cheh, a little girl like you's the leader of G7?"_

_The girl wore a bitter smile on her face as she murmured almost inaudibly, "Unfortunately."_

_But it wasn't inaudible… because Whitey Bay could hear it._

She hated that smile on that little girl's face… the little girl wasn't bad… just trapped between her duty and morals. Her duty as the marine leader made her fight for the fallen; her morals still there though defeated. Those morals sparing her life and apologizing to her, who was the initial cause, that it was all her, who just arrived on the island, fault.

She felt a bitter laugh escape her as she wondered who was the real kid. That girl or her… and as she slowly, somewhat painfully got up, she saw Squardo go behind the distracted girl and…

"Wait!"

But her call didn't reach in time as the girl was stabbed by that large sharp blade… before sliding off the long sword and falling to the ground.

She remembered the girl's face—it was one of being forced in the marines. She was the leader… yet at the same time… not part of them.

And whoever she was, she did not deserve to die by a backstab…

"Luffy!"

…

Ace groaned as he woke up from his narcoleptic fit. He yawned and stretched, blinking at the unconscious bodies around him. The foaming meaning Haoshoku Haki…

But he pretty much knew everyone with Haoshoku Haki.

Most of them would not attack… or at least not on this island if he knew it. He walked to the railing, confused…

"Yeah, this is Baltimore Island—"

And eyes widened. He recognized that straw hat—he'd know it from anywhere! That was-…his heart stopped beating as his mind quickly processed the scene. And he froze… this scene was just terribly wrong… but he knew what was happening.

She was one of the marines that attacked Whitey Bay and her crew.

Ace froze… his nakama were angry… he could feel it despite being bad with Kenbunshoku Haki. And she was like him… he didn't have to think to know that.

They were both fighting. With legitimate reasons… did he have the right to stop the fight?

But all that changed as his eyes widened in horror as he saw Squardo sneak up on her—him having not noticed the guy as well… now, he didn't even have to think about what he should do,

"WAIT!"

Ace ignored the eyes that whipped to him as he shouted desperately, jumping off the ship… but he saw the scene that he never wanted to ever see.

His sister sliding off that katana and collapsing on the ground with a smile as she gazed at him…

_"Ne, kuso-jiji—ack!"_

_"Call me Jii-chan!"_

_"No fucking way, kuso-jiji—argh! Stop punching me!"_

_"Call me Jii-chan!"_

_And after some arguing back and forth, Garp finally asked, "What do you want, brat?"_

_"…my parents… how did they die?"_

_The old man froze… before sadly smiling, "With a smile on their faces… we, Ds, tend to do that."_

Ace never questioned it, thinking that it was just some senior rambling… until he saw her smile himself… and it scared him; it was something he decided that he never wanted to see again,

"LUFFY!"

…

Marco stood conflicted. They were enemies… she even confirmed it herself before he left…

_"Ah, whatever. Hope you get back to your home safely, Phoenix-san. Whitebeard's at Noir Island, three thousand and seventy two kilometers north north east from here. Next time we meet, we're enemies though."_

She even hurt Whitey Bay and the crew… or at least was involved in it.

She was the enemy…

That was probably why she didn't mention their connection… or wasn't even blackmailing him to help her or for her to get away. She could have easily done that… he didn't know what he'd do if everyone found out his shame… that he spent a hundred days with the Tenryuubito as a slave… the mark under the straw band that she gave him proof.

And enough proof for those bastards to want him again, start to hunt him again, for the World Government to try capturing him again.

But she was the enemy… and someone 'who he didn't know'. She probably wasn't going to say it anytime soon, using that information to her advantage.

An honorable enemy.

But his enemy.

…but he also knew her kindness. Seven days was more than enough to know… So it hurt him to watch his nakama hate her so much… to see her, who lifted his loneliness, stand alone.

When Thatch attacked for Whitey Bay… who was his own friend as well… he wondered if he should support his friend—brother—or defend her…

Only one sight brought him out of his internal strife… Squardo behind her while she was distracted by something… no, it wasn't because she was distracted. He, Whitebeard's first division commander, didn't even notice the man appear behind her—heck, he didn't even notice the man arrive to scene… and judging by the others, they didn't either.

But ignoring that for a while… he could feel himself finally deciding as he didn't want her to die—

"Wait!"

But it was too late—the girl knew it as well as the straw hat flew into the air as her eyes widened and she coughed blood… before falling unconscious and collapsing with a silent thud… he didn't care what the others thought as he ran forth to her fallen body,

"Luffy!"


End file.
